


Bachelor again

by Vinushuka



Series: Apocalyptica on the move [8]
Category: Apocalyptica (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24804274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinushuka/pseuds/Vinushuka
Summary: Apocalyptica travels to southern Europe just before their summer holidays to play at metal festivals in Romania and Turkey. The festival weekend turns out to be exhausting but rewarding  and without any vampire bites. Eicca's 40th birthday is approaching so the guys end up talking about the changes that middlife inevitably brings along. Eicca is convinced that his wife Kirsi is planning a radical change in their life now that their kids are becoming adults.Perttu's happy homecoming turns into a shock when his fiance Johanna announces her decision to quit their relationship. She has found out that Perttu is planning to have a second kid with Anna. Perttu of course turns to Eicca for support with unforeseen consequences. Nothing will be the same after their discussion that night.
Relationships: Eicca Toppinen/Kirsi Ylijoki, Johanna Ahlbäck/Perttu Kivilaakso, Perttu Kivilaakso/Eicca Toppinen
Series: Apocalyptica on the move [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1408180
Kudos: 1





	1. Metal weekend in Romania and Turkey

I must admit that the prospect of travelling for twenty hours to our next concert location felt somewhat off-putting. The summer vacation was almost there but not quite, still two concerts to go. We started on Friday morning from Helsinki with Frankfurt as our destination. From there we would fly to Bucharest and then travel to medieval town of Sibiu located in Transylvania, in the middle of Romania.

I thought first that Eicca was grumpy due to the same reasons as I was: having to leave behind our somewhat cool but beautiful summer nature and enter the hassle of busy airports and hot cities of southern Europe. The endless dirt roads of Lapland with not a soul in sight were only a vague memory after returning to Helsinki but the experience had left a permanent longing for silence and solitude deep inside me.

It turned out that Eicca was grumpy for more practical reasons. His wife Kirsi had blown her top because Eicca had to travel just when their house needed an urgent roof repair.

“She really rubbed the thing in my face this time. I’m never there when I’m needed and leave her to struggle alone with the problems”, Eicca muttered in a low voice gazing at his half empty glass of beer. We were sitting in one of the many bars at Frankfurt airport waiting for our flight to Bucharest.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t rain very much during our absence”, I said trying to be funny, but Eicca didn’t laugh.

“Things don’t stay the same forever. Our kids are almost adults now and will soon move on their own. I will be travelling a lot also in the future and Kirsi will be left even more alone. I’m sure she wants something else, something new now that the phase of raising kids is coming to an end”, Eicca pondered.

“Do you mean new relationships, new work or new place to live in?” I asked feeling somehow uncomfortable. The changes in Eicca’s life might also affect our relationship.

“Perhaps all of them. I love her and know her well enough to sense the change in her mood. Something is brewing in her mind.”

“You two are having a midlife crisis of some kind. You’re almost forty and she’s forty-six. At that point in life people start questioning if this was all there is. Except me. I’m forever a teenager, unable to do any adulting. It’s not fun either.”

“I strongly recommend having kids and family life. Those give you a good reason to come home.”

“So they say”, I mumbled remembering my last discussion with Franky. He voiced his opinion about my lifestyle selection very clearly: I was an idiot not to marry Anna and live together with her and my daughter Lumi. His comments after I told him that I wanted a second kid with Anna, were too harsh to print.

“Why don’t you try an open relationship and let her do what she wants”, I continued after a long pause filled with internal contemplation.

“We’ve talked about that but I’m not good at sharing things and she isn’t either. Kirsi can share me with you but other women are out of bounds. The same goes for me. I didn’t mind her little games with Anna, but other guys would be hard to bear.”

“I know very well that sharing is not easy but sometimes you’ll have to accept it or lose everything. The idea that one relationship would fulfill all your needs through lifetime is not very realistic”, I defended my point.

Our private discussion was interrupted when Mikko, Franky and Paavo returned from their adventures at the airport shops. For the rest of our waiting time was we talked about boating as both Eicca and Paavo were passionate about it. They knew nothing better than outdoor life and boating in beautiful Finnish archipelago.

The concert location of Sibiu Artmania festival turned out to be one of the most interesting places we had ever visited. The stage had been built at Big Square in the heart of the so-called upper town of Sibiu. This city was famous for its medieval Germanic architecture and the remains of age-old city walls and towers.

Our schedule was tight, but I managed to sneak out from our hotel together with Franky before the soundcheck. We took a stroll around the ancient city now full of goths dressed in black. Franky snapped some great shots of the architecture while I mostly admired his enthusiasm about our surroundings.

“Your Batman shirt fits well within the theme. Aren’t bats and vampires supposed to be a common sight here in Transylvania?”, Franky remarked when I was setting up my instrument on stage during the soundcheck.

“Not in full sunlight, but when the darkness falls things start to happen. Beware not to get bitten tonight”, I grinned and winked an eye at Franky.

“I detest vampires, but it would be nice to get bitten by a certain longhaired guy”, Franky whispered his dark eyes smoldering.

“I’m sorry but there’s no time to have fun tonight. We’ll have to be in Bucharest early next morning to catch our flight to Istanbul, so we’ll be travelling all night”, I reminded Franky about our grim future. No sleep till Istanbul. 

“Yeah, I know. That was just my wishful thinking. I kind of like your bites.”

I was still delighted by Franky’s last remark, when it was time for Apocalyptica to hit the stage at Big Square as Saturday’s headline artist. The night was dark and Big Square was tightly packed with people waiting restlessly for the show to start. Together with the historical surroundings the crowd of metalheads created somehow weird and unrealistic feeling. We would have to give them our utmost tonight and so we did. The adrenaline rush during the show would have kept us going all night even if we had wanted to have some sleep. When we finally started to get drowsy, we arrived at Bucharest airport and it was time to climb onboard our flight to Turkey.

We arrived at Istanbul early enough to be able to take a couple of hours nap before our soundcheck at Rock Off festival. The environment in Sariyer Life Park was completely different from the ancient surroundings at Sibiu but the crowd was huge and very welcoming, when we started our set at 10 o’clock on Sunday evening. We of course tried our best that night, but the sleep deprivation was taking its toll on all of us and the intensity of the show remained lower than previous night. I could hardly stand on my own two feet after the show and when we got to the hotel, I crash-landed on the bed and fell asleep immediately. So much for me giving vampire bites to Franky.

Our direct flight from Istanbul to Helsinki gave me the opportunity to exchange a few words with Eicca, who had been very withdrawn during these two festival days. I assumed he was tired but probably looking forward to his coming 40th birthday. I too had received a mysterious invitation to this “Eicca Rock” that would take place on 5th of August at Sipoo. 

“I heard you have a pretty impressive guest list at your birthday party: Stam1na, Mike Monroe, Elli Haloo, the Blanko and so on”, I started the discussion.

“Well yeah, Kirsi is one hell of an organizer”, Eicca grinned. “I’m not sure if I deserve all that, but anyways, it’s nice to have someone else perform in my party. I just hope the weather stays decent this week.”

“I think it should be warm or even hot in southern Finland. Just enjoy the party and start the second half of your life with a bang.”

“I will. We will have to stop partying latest 8th of August, when we have our last summer festival gig in Sweden.”

“Aargh, I had completely forgotten that! What festival is it?”

“It’s Get Away Festival at Gävle”, Eicca replied frowning his forehead.

“Jeez, I must be getting old, if I don’t remember our coming gigs anymore… By the way, will you be able to attend Yusuke’s grilling party on 15th?” I changed the subject because my forgetfulness was embarrassing. 

“Yes, of course. It will be interesting to grill something with a Japanese twist. Besides, I like the guy”, Eicca grinned and laid his hand on my thigh.

“You seem to have this thing for tattooed guys”, I muttered feeling a sting of jealousy.

“That’s true, but guess who taught me”, Eicca asked and tightened his grip.

“I guess I’m the guilty person… You should come and visit my place sometimes next week to check my latest works”, I proposed feeling a desperate need to fuck with him there and then. The plane was packed with people, so there was no way we could do anything naughty there.

“I will give you a call when I know more about the party schedules this week”, Eicca promised.

“Please give me at least a kiss”, I begged wriggling on my seat. 

Eicca took a quick look around to see if there were any curious eyes watching us and then leaned over to kiss me. I couldn’t help myself and responded to his kiss with a fierce intensity. The kiss lasted until we heard Mikko’s warning-cough. Someone was approaching along the isle probably heading to the lavatory at the back of the plane.

“Wow, you’re hot today… I hope it doesn’t pass any time soon”, Eicca mused and laid his hands in his lap to cover the considerable bulge in the front of his jeans.


	2. A non-negotiable decision

Landing at Helsinki Vantaa airport felt particularly good this time, although there was still one gig to go before our holiday. For some reason Johanna insisted on meeting me at the airport. That wasn’t typical of her, so I assumed that she wanted to talk with me about something. As I couldn’t immediately figure out what the topic might be, I decided to stop worrying and accept whatever was coming.

Johanna seemed to be her happy self when I hugged her at the arrival’s hall. I thought that I had worried for nothing when she only wanted to know how things had gone during the festival weekend and chatted this and that about her own doings. I had already let my guard down when she opened the discussion on the way to my apartment.

“I’ve heard from a reliable source that you are planning to have a second child with Anna. Is that true?”

“Err… not planning, but I’ve asked her if she was willing. She needed to discuss it with Yusuke first.”

“And you didn’t think that I would have a say in this matter?” Johanna asked trying hard to stay in control of her feelings.

“You said you didn’t want to have kids yet, but Anna does, and she doesn’t have the luxury of waiting. Besides Lumi needs a sister or a brother, so I offered my help.”

“Do you think I’m stupid or something? You will never let go of her even if we two were married. I’ve given this a lot of thought and concluded that this is it. I can’t do this.”

Luckily, I had just parked my car in front of my house, because otherwise I would probably have driven off the road when I heard her last words.

“Please come inside with me so that we can talk this over”, I begged her.

“No thanks. I’ve made my decision and it’s nonnegotiable. I’m quitting”, she fumed and dropped the ring she had removed from her finger into the dashboard cupholder.

I didn’t have time to say or do anything before she opened the door, stepped out and slammed the door shut. I didn’t even consider trying to stop her. In her current state of mind nothing good would come out of that. I knew she was heading to the subway station close by to get home. I could try to talk some sense into her head after she had calmed down a bit.

I sat in my car for a while completely stunned trying to understand what had happened. I had my doubts who this reliable source might be. Franky had been completely pissed off when told him about my plans and he was the only person besides Eicca who knew about my proposal. But for some reason I wasn’t mad at Franky. Maybe he had done the right thing by blowing the whistle on me.

Finally, I put Johanna’s ring into my pocket and headed to my apartment to recover from the shock. I dumped my luggage in the hallway and sat down at the kitchen table wondering what to do. After a while I dug up a can of nonalcoholic beer from the fridge and poured myself a refreshing drink to calm down my nerves. I was bachelor again and needed badly Eicca’s advice.

After a short consideration I decided to wait for about an hour before sending him a message, so that Eicca would have time to drive home.

“Houston, I have a problem! Can we talk still tonight?” I wrote to Eicca.

It took about fifteen minutes before my phone buzzed and I heard Eicca’s worried voice at the other end of the line.

“Sorry, that it took so long, but I had to find myself some privacy before calling you. What’s going on?”

“Err… Johanna broke off our relationship about an hour ago”, I muttered my voice breaking down.

“What? She left you just like that?” Eicca shouted so loud that my ear hurt. “Did she tell you why?”

“Yeah, she had found out that I was planning to have another baby with Anna.”

“I didn’t tell her, if that’s what you’re asking”, Eicca said sounding offended.

“No, not at all. I think it was Franky who told her, but I don’t blame him for doing that.”

“If you want my advice, the most important one is: Don’t do anything rash in the heat of the moment. Wait and let the situation calm down. Johanna is offering you a way out of the dead end you have driven yourself into. Consider your options carefully.”

“I guessed you would say that, and I agree with you. But there are too many moving pieces in this puzzle right now. I don’t know where to start.”

“Start with Anna. She needs to know first.”

“In fact, I’m going to meet her and Lumi tomorrow, so I will tell her then. Is there any chance that you could come by tonight? I would sleep better with you…”

There was a long silence at Eicca’s end while he was considering his reply.

“Okay, I will be there in about two hours. Let’s talk more when we meet”, Eicca promised and finished the call. I really hoped that Kirsi wouldn’t mind me borrowing her husband in this emergency.


	3. The night of passion

Eicca turned up at my doorstep at about nine o’clock in the evening. When he had closed the door behind him, I dived straight into his arms without saying a word.

“I’m so sorry, baby”, he muttered into my ear and stroke my hair that was still slightly damp after taking a shower.

“I’m glad you could come at such a short notice. I hope Kirsi didn’t get mad at you.”

“I told her that you had an emergency and she was very compassionate. She had still some work to do tonight with her coming play, so I left her to it.”

“Would you like to have some tea or a beer before going to bed?

“I would like to take a shower first and yes, tea would be nice”, Eicca said and stroke my cheek. “You smell very fresh, but I don’t.”

“Yeah, sure. I will bring you a clean towel while you undress”, I promised remembering the hot kiss on the airplane earlier that day. My need to fuck with Eicca hadn’t vanished anywhere, on the contrary, it was getting more pressing as we spoke.

While Eicca was showering, I prepared the tea and made some sandwiches to go with it.

“Jeez, are you sure that your bathroom scale is showing correct readings? According to it I have gained several kilos of weight lately”, Eicca asked when he came into the kitchen wearing only a towel on his waist.

“I haven’t noticed anything special in my own weight readings…” I said carefully while I assessed Eicca’s habitus from head to toe. He did have somewhat fuller arms than before, and his face was rounder. “Maybe you have gained two or three kilos.”

“Don’t be polite! I have put on five kilos extra weight. I need to do something about it, more exercise and less alcohol”, Eicca said looking determined.

“You’ve always being sturdier than me, and I love it”, I purred and slid my palm down his chest towards the towel.

“If you continue doing that, I will fuck you right away and our tea will get cold”, Eicca threatened and gave me a naughty grin.

“Okay, okay… tea first, then fuck”, I outlined our priorities and sat down at the table to pour us some tea.

After destroying the sandwiches that I had made, we finally headed to my bedroom to enjoy a well-earned dessert. Our lovemaking started with a long and gentle kiss. Eicca had lovely soft lips and he knew how to make the most of them. By the time our kiss ended I was dying to give myself to the man I loved. Lately it had started to dawn on me that Eicca was perhaps the one and only person I couldn’t imagine living without. Our relationship had lasted half of my life and had weathered the Nashville catastrophe caused by Franky, Eicca’s infatuation with Patrik Stranden not to mention my numerous adventures with booze and women.

I wanted him to fuck me face to face so that I could kiss him and see and feel his hair on my face and weight on my body. When Eicca had pushed himself carefully inside me, he suddenly stopped and kissed my face.

“You know what? I had this revelation when I was driving here tonight. Since you’re a free man now and Kirsi probably wants a divorce soon, I could ask you to marry me. The law allowing same sex marriage has already been approved and will take effect in March 2017. Could you consider taking me as your husband then?”

My heart probably skipped quite a few beats when I understood what Eicca was suggesting to me.

“Marry… you? It never occurred to me that this kind of alternative existed. But now that you say it, it feels like a viable option… Yes, I could consider it”, I whispered and grabbed Eicca’s face into my hands to kiss him. “Please, fuck me before I start crying and spoil the whole thing.”

I don’t remember much about our lovemaking after that. It was just a blur of ecstatic joy and intolerable passion mixed with tears and sweat. When Eicca had come, I held him in my arms hoping that we wouldn’t have to part ever again. So many things could go wrong during the coming twenty months. Eicca and I had the Indigo opera project, Apocalyptica would be touring around the world with Shadowmaker shows, I had my house renovation starting and Eicca’s marriage was still going strong.

“I just can’t stop thinking about the future with you. You should join my house renovation project as the first step of our long journey to March 2017”, I whispered to Eicca before I fell asleep in his arms.


End file.
